Two players that need to step up for the Washington Wizards in John Wall’s absence

With John Wall out for two weeks, Otto Porter, Jr. and Tim Frazier will have to step up for the Washington Wizards.

After undergoing an MRI on his sore left knee on Friday, the Washington Wizards announced on Saturday morning, that their All Star point guard, John Wall, will receive platelet-rich plasma and viscosupplementation injections to reduce inflammation and miss two weeks.

Washington will be without Wall for approximately the next seven games. The first four games they will face teams above .500, including a back-to-back against Minnesota and Philadelphia. In this seven game stretch, they will host Portland tonight at 7 p.m. and will head to Portland nearly a week and a half later, for game two of their five-game road trip.

The Wizards have not had to deal with much injury issues this season, with the exception of Markieff Morris, who had undergone offseason surgery. However, Sheldon Mac is out of the rotation for 6-8 months, for a torn Achilles.

Wall had previously missed two games because of the same knee issue. Washington went 1-1, while Wall was out. They also saw a considerable drop off in their offensive production and defensive efforts. According to ESPN Stats & Information, when Wall is on the court, the Wizards average the third-best mark in the league of 110.6 points per possession, compared to 26-best 99.8 points per possession.

In order to overcome the many challenges that await them, while their point guard is off the court, the team will need surging production not only from their bench, but also from the starting unit.

Here are two players, Washington really needs to step up

Tim Frazier has largely been a disappointment for the Wizards. The third-year player from Penn State only averaged 3.8 points and 3.2 assists per game on 38.2 percent shooting from the field. Washington signed the backup point guard after his stellar play in New Orleans.

In the 15-16 season, in 16 games with the Pelicans, Frazier averaged 13.1 points, and 7.5 assists in over 29 minutes played, while Jrue Holiday was nursing an injury. The following season, the guard’s production did come back down to earth, but he still managed to average over seven points and five assists in just over 23 minutes played. If the Wizards would like to remain over .500 in the next seven games, they will need to see the same-level production he showed during his time with the Pelicans.

Much of the talk this season has been about the hot shooting from Otto Porter. The fourth-year player from Georgetown had an October to remember in which he scored 18.7 points per the first six games. While the hot shooting has extended its way to November, Porter has not maintained the same level of aggressiveness. He has seen a down-spike in the number of attempts in field-goals from 13.2 to 10.5 (4.8 to 3.6 decline in 3’s), and even free throws from 2.2 to 1.1. With how well Porter has been playing, Washington will need him to increase the number of shots that he takes.

Washington’s bench has largely been an improvement from last year’s squad–thanks to Kelly Oubre’s scorching 3-point shooting– but has largely been underwhelming. With John Wall the unit as a whole must take the initiation to improve their play. If some bench players are able to show that they can deliver when the team needs them the most, maybe Coach Scott Brooks’ hand in the playoffs won’t be as short.